Lesson learned

Thanks to last year's extra-long layoff in the Stanley Cup playoffs, Claude Julien and the Boston Bruins now know how to better handle themselves during long stretches in between games

The Bruins have had four days off since their last game on Saturday night, a 7-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Phil Kessel and company are back in town Thursday night, and Claude Julien talked after Wednesday's practice about how he's learned from last year's 8-day break in between the first and second rounds of the playoffs.

Read what he had to say in my story on CSNNE.com.

-- Thursday's show will include plenty of MLB Winter Meetings talk . . . and if Bill Belichick has been trying to tell this year's Patriots that they can't live in the past, how will the current players handle their coach's latest move? . . . And on Friday, Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog.com joins me to talk MLB Hot Stove. Listen to I'm Just Sayin' on BlogTalkRadio.com, weekdays at 1 p.m. ET.

Quit playing games

While the Yankees acquire Curtis Granderson in a three-way trade, the Red Sox continue to act like a small-market club, making reported tensions within the organization more and more believable

San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Tim Sullivan wrote a piece over the weekend regarding former San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers, and his search for a new job.

According to the column, Towers is hesitant to join the Red Sox' tension-filled organization.

"Boston’s Larry Lucchino has been calling, but Towers is leery of the tension he perceives between his former boss and his former protégé, Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein," said Sullivan in Saturday's column.

With no left fielder, and Marco Scutaro's signing described as a "major announcement" last week, it would seem that either Lucchino or Epstein is upset at how the team's spending - or not spending - its money this offseason.

Regardless of the in-house tension, it's time for the Red Sox to stop treating the club like a small-market organization. I called out the Red Sox on Tuesday's show. Listen in its entirety by clicking here, or play below:



For the best Boston sports analysis on the web, listen to I'm Just Sayin' weekdays at 1 p.m. ET on BlogTalkRadio.com.

Maroney: We can't live in the past

On a day in which not many Patriots players were willing to speak to the media, New England running back Laurence Maroney had an important message for the rest of his team, just one day after losing to the Miami Dolphins, 22-21

Read what Laurence Maroney had to say, in my piece for CSNNE.com.

Also, Bill Belichick continued to defend yet another failed fourth-down conversion. Read about his press conference from Gillette Stadium on Monday, via my blog post on CSNNE.com.

Hoping for health

Injuries have prevented Tony Allen from even attempting to live up to the hype that surrounded him after being drafted 25th overall in 2004, and now, the 27-year-old hopes Tuesday night can be a new beginning

Barring any setbacks after today's full practice, Tony Allen returns to the Celtics' lineup on Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks at the TD Garden.

With Marquis Daniels expected to miss the game with a nagging thumb injury, Allen will most likely get some playing time for the first time this season.

Read about Allen's return, Daniels' injury, and Ray Allen's take on Brandon Jennings and Europe in my piece from Sunday's Celtics practice on CSNNE.com.

-- No show on Monday, Dec. 7, as I'll be in Foxboro getting reaction from the Patriots a day after their loss to Miami on Sunday. I'm Just Sayin' on BlogTalkRadio will resume on Tuesday, Dec. 8 with an update on the state of the Patriots, and what's going on at the MLB Winter Meetings.

Rask steals the show

Phil Kessel was the talk of the town on Saturday night at the TD Garden, but Bruins rookie goaltender Tuukka Rask stole the show in shutting down the team that originally drafted him

The Bruins sent an early message to the team that gave them three draft picks in exchange for Phil Kessel in September, and Rask's 33 saves represented the exclamation point in Saturday's 7-2 drubbing of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Check out my story on Rask's performance from CSNNE.com.

Kessel returns

Phil Kessel makes his return to Boston, Saturday, for the first time since being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in September, and it's time to re-visit the deal that sent only draft picks to the Bruins

One could make the argument that Boston has been just fine without Phil Kessel this season. The Bruins are 6-0-1 in their last seven games, and have catapulted to the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.

But nobody can deny what Kessel is doing this season. The 22-year-old winger has eight goals and five assists in 14 games this season. His goals total matches the Bruins' leading goal scorers' totals in 13 less games - Patrice Bergeron and Marco Sturm each have eight as well, but in 27 games apiece. (UPDATED: Kessel scored two goals in Toronto's 6-3 win over Columbus on Thursday night, giving him 10 goals in 15 games - two more goals than any Bruins player, in 12 less games).

While Boston has re-established itself as one of the top teams in the East by showing its depth, without that prominent goal scorer to play on the top line with Marc Savard, the Bruins aren't on the same level as the two teams ahead of them in the standings - Pittsburgh and Washington.

Reading Kevin Paul Dupont's piece in Thursday's Boston Globe, it reminded me of how the trade went down, and made me re-visit the ways in which the Bruins may have been able to keep the same player that Toronto GM Brian Burke believes "is on the brink of greatness."

Did Kessel really not want to negotiate with the Bruins? Would Kessel have re-signed if Peter Chiarelli made him a priority, instead of signing Tim Thomas and David Krejci to big deals first? And was Claude Julien the one that actually ran Kessel out of town?

It was the main topic on Thursday's show. Listen by clicking here.

For the best Boston sports analysis on the web, listen to I'm Just Sayin' weekdays at 1 p.m. ET on BlogTalkRadio.com.

Dolphins still dangerous

Miami running back Ronnie Brown is out for the season, but Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are still concerned about the Dolphins' other offensive weapons

The Patriots have read the script. Now, whether they buy in, remains to be seen.

After being blown out on Monday night in New Orleans, everyone in Foxboro is saying all the right things. They've moved on. Next up, Miami.

Belichick addressed the media after Wednesday's walk-through at Gillette Stadium. Here's my story from CSNNE.com on how he's preparing for a Dolphins team that is without its biggest offensive threat, Ronnie Brown.

Also, click here to read what Miami linebacker Jason Taylor and coach Tony Sparano had to say during Wednesday's conference calls.

-- After a week off, my sports-talk show returns tomorrow and Friday at 1 p.m. ET. Tune in LIVE to I'm Just Sayin' on BlogTalkRadio.com, every weekday from 1-2 p.m. ET.

Correctable issues

Patriots coach Bill Belichick says he has already switched his focus to the Miami Dolphins, but the issues within New England's defense after Monday night's 38-17 loss to New Orleans are anything but forgetful

In a conference call on Tuesday, Belichick acknowledged that his secondary was as bad as it could be on Monday night. He does, however, believe it's something that can be fixed.

See what Belichick and Patriots defensive coordinator Dean Pees had to say the day after Monday night's disaster, by reading my story from CSNNE.com.

-- I want to apologize for not having any shows so far this week. In my attempt to keep I'm Just Sayin' on BlogTalkRadio airing as consistently as possible, my new job at Comcast SportsNet New England has prevented me from doing so every day.

However, this is a good thing. CSNNE.com is where I want to be, and I don't ever plan on discontinuing my show. Hosting my own sports-talk show has, and always will be, a passion of mine. So here's what I will do. Until it gets to the point where I have to change the show's time slot, I'll prepare a schedule for the rest of the week, every Sunday.

With that said, I'll be covering the Patriots' practice tomorrow afternoon in Foxboro, so I plan on closing out the week with a show on Thursday and Friday. Check out CSNNE.com's Patriots blog all day tomorrow for updates from Gillette Stadium.